|
Grandeur of the
 Baroque
Vivaldi's
'Four Seasons'
Featuring
Stirling Trent
Violin
Photo credit: Shawn
Northcutt
Friday, November 9, 2007 at 7:30pm
At
Lakeland Baptist Church, Lewisville (Directions)
Adults $25, Senior $ (60+) $20
Student $10, Special UNT student rate $5
Bach: Brandenburg
Concerto No. 3 in G Major, BWV 1048
I. Allegro
II. Adagio
III. Allegro
Jennifer Griffin, Oksana
Sifri, Linda Proch, violins
Lorin Chisholm, Jennifer
Sweetman, Jenifer Richison, violas
Dan Lewis, Beth Conway,
Alice Lee, cellos
David Shaw, bass
Elliot Figg,
harpsichord
Purcell (arr.
Albert Coates): Suite for Strings
I. Rondeau
II. Slow Air
III. Air
IV. Minuet
V. Allegro
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons
Concerto No. 1 in E
Major, RV 269, “SPRING”
I. Allegro
II. Largo
III. Allegro
Concerto No. 2 in G
Minor, RV 315, “SUMMER”
I. Allegro non molto;
Allegro
II. Adagio
III. Presto
Concerto No. 3 in F
Major, RV 293, “AUTUMN”
I. Allegro
II. Adagio molto
III. Allegro
Concerto No. 4 in F
Minor, RV 297, “WINTER”
I. Allegro non molto
II. Largo
III. Allegro
Stirling Trent, Violin
Stirling Trent
A
native of Colleyville, Texas, violinist Stirling Trent has performed as
concertmaster for three orchestras in his home state since 2004: the
Garland Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Arlington, and the Las Colinas
Symphony Orchestra. He regularly appears as soloist with regional
orchestras, and has an active interest in chamber music. Currently, he
is working toward his Master’s degree at the
 Thornton School of Music at
the University of Southern California, where his principal teacher is
Midori Goto.
Notable concert appearances by Stirling
Trent include Live from Lincoln Center with Itzhak Perlman, as well as a
series at Carnegie Hall in 2003 in which he was concertmaster for the
New York String Orchestra under Jaime Laredo.
Mr. Trent has won numerous awards, including
Grand Prizes from the Texas Association of Symphony Orchestras’ Juanita
Miller Competition, the Dallas Symphonic Festival, and the Hubbard
Chamber Music Festival.
In 1999, he received the inaugural Bayard
Friedman Award for an Outstanding Student in the Performing Arts. His
international competition experience includes the Sixth Quadrennial
International Violin Competition in Indianapolis, the Geneva
International Music Competition, and the Queen Elisabeth Competition for
violinists in Brussels, Belgium.
A respected young musician, he has had lessons and master classes from
Charles Avsharian, David Cerone, Pamela Frank, Ida Kavafian, Jaime
Laredo, Cho-Liang Lin, Elmar Oliveira, Itzhak Perlman, Arnold
Steinhardt, and Pinchas Zukerman; he has also worked with members of
such renowned chamber groups as the Emerson, Fine Arts, Guarneri and
Tokyo string quartets.
Mr. Trent is a graduate of The Juilliard School, where he was a student
of Itzhak Perlman. In addition to his Bachelor’s degree from Juilliard,
he studied for many years with Jan Mark Sloman, the Associate Principal
Concertmaster of the Dallas Symphony, and earned an Artist Certificate
from Southern Methodist University.
Antonio Vivaldi
The Four Seasons is a set of four concertos
that Vivaldi composed in 1728. The Four Seasons is Vivaldi’s
best-known work, and is among the most popular pieces of Baroque music
that are performed today. These are really not concertos for violin and
orchestra, but concerti grosso in which the solo violin
constitutes the concertino, or contrasting performing body.
Each concerto has three movements, with a slow
movement occurring between two faster movements. Vivaldi included with
each of these concertos a sonnet to serve as a program. He placed in
the conductor’s score phrases from the poems to indicate the appropriate
descriptive passages in the music.
Each movement depicts sounds and events associated
with one of the seasons (such as: bird songs heard in “Spring”; a
thunderstorm in the final movement of “Summer”; and the dark, somber
mood in “Winter”). These concertos are forerunners of the more
elaborate programmatic music that developed during the romantic period.
Concerto No. 1 in E
major, “La primavera” (Spring)
Allegro
Springtime is upon us
The birds celebrate her return with festive song, and murmuring streams
are softly caressed by the breezes.
Thunderstorms, those heralds of Spring, roar, casting their dark mantle
over heaven,
Then they die away in silence, and the birds take up their charming
songs once more.
Largo
On the flower-strewn meadow, with leafy branches rustling overhead, the
goat-herd sleeps, his faithful dog beside him.
Allegro
Led by the festive sound of bagpipes, nymphs shepherds lightly dance
beneath the brilliant canopy of spring.
Concerto No. 2 in G minor, “L’estate”
(Summer)
Allegro non molto
Beneath the blazing sun’s relentless heat men and flocks are sweltering,
pines are scorched.
We hear the cuckoo’s voice; then sweet songs of the turtle dove and
finch are heard.
Soft breezes stir the air … but threatening north wind sweeps them
suddenly aside.
The shepherd trembles, fearful of violent storm and what may lie ahead.
Adagio e piano – Presto e forte
His limbs are now awake from their repose by fear of lightning’s flash
and thunder’s roar as gnats and flies buzz furiously around.
Presto
Alas, his worst fears were justified, as the heavens roar and great
hailstones beat down upon the proudly standing corn.
Concerto No. 3 in F major, “L’autunno”
(Autumn)
Allegro
The peasant celebrates with song and dance the harvest safely
gathered in.
The cup of Bacchus flows freely, and many find their relief in deep
slumber.
Adagio molto
The singing and dancing die away as cooling breezes fan the pleasant
air, inviting all to sleep without a care.
Allegro
The hunters emerge at dawn, ready for the chase, with horns and dogs and
cries.
Their quarry flees while they give chase.
Terrified and wounded, the prey struggles on,
but, harried, dies.
Concerto No. 4 in F minor, “L’inverno”
(Winter)
Allegro non molto
Shivering, frozen mid the frosty snow in biting, stinging winds; running
to and fro to stamp one’s icy feet, teeth chattering in the bitter
chill.
Largo
To rest contentedly beside the hearth, while those outside are drenched
by pouring rain.
Allegro
We tread the icy path slowly and cautiously, for fear of tripping and
falling.
Then turn abruptly, slip, crash on the ground and, rising, hasten on
across the ice lest it cracks up.
We feel the chill north winds coarse through the home despite the locked
and bolted doors …
this is winter, which nonetheless brings its own
delights.
Brandenburg Concerto No. 3
in G Major,
BWV 1048
Johann Sebastian Bach
Allegro
Adagio
Allegro
 The
Brandenburg concertos are a collection of six instrumental works
presented by Bach to Christian Ludwig, margave of
Brandenburg, in 1721. They are widely regarded as among the finest
musical compositions of the Baroque period. These works are not solo
concerti, but of two distinct types of ensemble concerto. While
Concertos Nos. 2, 4 and 5 are more typical concerti grossi, the others
(including No. 3) belong to the group that follow the structure of
evenly balanced instrumental choirs in conversation.
Concerto No. 3 is scored for three each
of violins, violas, cellos, plus string bass and harpsichord. The
opening movement is organized around an eight-measure ritournello. The
material is treated in a variety of ways: groups calling back and forth
with the same motif, groups playing with different motifs, or sometimes
a solo by a single instrument. This musical conversation always comes
back to the unifying ritournello.
The second movement is unusual in that
it contains just two chords that Bach ordinarily used to end a second
movement. It is left to the conductor to treat this situation in one of
several ways, including: playing only the two chords, improvising a
cadenza around these chords by a solo instrument, or substituting
another of Bach’s slow movements. Tonight this movement will be a brief
improvisation (actually a fancy modulation) by the harpsichordist.
The final Allegro is an uncharacteristic
movement for a Bach concerto. It is a two-part dance in the style of a
gigue, and is a movement which demands considerable virtuosity on the
part of the players.
Suite for Strings
Henry Purcell
Rondeau
Slow Air
Air
Minuet
Allegro
 The
Suite for Strings is not an original work in itself but rather is
drawn from several different scores of dramatic music composed by
Purcell. The Rondeau originally was the Overture to The
Gordion Knot Untied; the second movement, Slow Air, is an
arrangement of the soprano solo, Fairest Isle from King
Arthur; the third movement is the instrumental Air from
Abdelazer; the Minuet is excerpted from The Virtuous Wife;
and the finale, Allegro, is drawn from the Music Overture for
King Arthur.
Collectively these excerpts, arranged by
the eminent English conductor Sir Albert Coates, provide an excellent
example of Purcell’s style of writing for the medium of dramatic music.
Antonio Vivaldi
Born on March 4, 1678 in Venice
Died on July 28, 1741 in Vienna
 Antonio Vivaldi, a towering figure of the late
Italian baroque, was the son of a violinist at St. Mark’s Cathedral in
Venice. He became a priest, but left the ministry after about a year
because of poor health. For most of his life he was a violin teacher,
composer, and conductor at Ospedale della Pieta – a Venetian music
school for orphaned and illegitimate girls.
It was for the school’s all-female orchestra –
considered one of the best in Italy – that he composed many of his
finest works. Though he was famous and influential as a virtuoso
violinist and composer, his popularity waned shortly before his death in
1741. He died in poverty in Vienna and was almost forgotten until the
baroque revival of the 1940’s and 1950’s.
Vivaldi is best known for his 450 or so concerti
grossi and solo concertos (a solo concerto is a piece for a single
soloist and an orchestra). Vivaldi was also much engaged in vocal
music, composing thirty-eight operas and many religious works.
He wrote a quantity of sacred music, chiefly for the
Pieta girls, using a vigorous style in which the influence of the
concerto is often noted. Vivaldi was Italy’s most distinguished baroque
composer, and as his vast output was brought to light his reputation
grew. His music is set apart from other baroque compositions by its
vitality, melodic invention, and originality.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Born on May 21, 1685 in
Eisenach, Germany
Died on July 28, 1750 in
Leipzig, Germany
 The
name Johann Sebastian Bach is almost synonymous in modern day acceptance
with mastery of baroque music composition. He is widely recognized as
one of three giants of composition (along with Mozart and Beethoven).
Additionally, he was a master of the church organ, harpsichord, and an
accomplished violinist. Although quite multitalented, musical
composition was the driving force of his life. Ironically he achieved
virtually no success or professional recognition as a composer in his
lifetime.
 Bach
began his auspicious career in music at the age of fifteen as an organ
mechanic and tuner, moving from town to town. He was quickly regarded
as a talented technician, and throughout his life continued to service
his large collection of musical instruments. As a composer, Bach’s
reputation was restricted to a fairly narrow circle, and his fame in no
way approached that of his contemporaries, such as Telemann. His
published works today number more than one thousand, but in his lifetime
fewer than a dozen of his compositions were printed, and for half a
century after his death this position only improved slightly until in
1821 the Well-Tempered Klavier was published. The revival of
interest in Bach’s music may be dated from the performance of the St.
Matthew Passion in Berlin in 1829, conducted by Felix Mendelssohn.
Bach’s supreme achievement was as a polyphonist. His
North German protestant religion was the root of all his art, allied to
a tireless industry in the pursuit of every kind of refinement of his
skill and technique. The dramatic and emotional force of his music was
remarkable in its day and has been realized by succeeding generations
with increasing appreciation. Suffice it to say that for many composers
and for countless listeners, Bach’s music is supreme – to quote Wagner:
“the most stupendous miracle in all music”.
Henry Purcell
Born in 1659 (exact date
unknown) in Westminster, England
Died on November 26, 1695 in
Westminster, England
 Born
in 1659, Henry Purcell was the finest and most original composer of his
day. He was the son of a court musician, a chorister in the Chapel
Royal, and the holder of continuing royal appointments until his death.
In 1677 he was appointed composer-in-ordinary for the king’s viols, and
in 1679 he succeeded his teacher as organist at Westminster Abbey. In
1682 he was appointed an organist of the Chapel Royal. His court
appointments were renewed by James II in 1685 and by William III in
1689. The last royal occasion for which he provided music was Queen
Mary’s funeral in 1695. Purcell died on November 26, 1695 and was
buried in Westminster Abbey.
Purcell is considered to be one of the greatest
composers of the Baroque period and, as well, one of the greatest of all
English composers. His earliest works date from 1680 and show a
complete command of the craft of composition. These include the
fantasias for viols, contrapuntal writing in the old style, and some of
the more modern sonatas for violin. His theatre music in particular
made his name familiar to many who knew nothing of his church music or
the odes and songs he wrote for the court. During the last five years
of his life Purcell collaborated on five ‘semi-operas’ in which the
music was a significant part and which included divertissements, songs,
choral numbers and dances. His only true opera was Dido and Aeneas
which despite the limitations of the libretto is among the finest of
the 17th-century operas.
Program notes by Dr. John Green
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
